The Department of Infrastructure and Transport this week detailed steps it intends to take to ensure general aviation retains access to leased federal airports (LFAs) such as the metropolitan Class D airports.
Access to airport infrastructure is key to the Federal Government's strategy for regenerating GA in Australia, but it has been threatened in the recent past by airport leasing companies (ALCs) that have submitted plans that reduce the amount of land reserved for aviation use and have demolished aviation infrastructure in favour of non-aviation commercial development.
In response to questions this masthead asked, a departmental spokesperson clarified the actions the government would take to ensure access was retained.
"Upon the release of the Aviation White Paper, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government wrote to leased federal airports outlining the Australian Government’s expectation that draft master and major development plans ensure appropriate access for general aviation," the spokesperson said.
"The department monitors general aviation activities at leased federal airports by:
- considering how draft master plans propose to develop and safeguard aviation precincts from new non-aviation development when providing advice to the Minister
- reviewing new building activities, through the Airport Building Control Regulations 1996, to ensure consistency with the in-force master plan and/or major development plan, and
- conducting lease and compliance reviews at least once every three years for each leased federal airport."
LFAs must have their final master plans approved by the minister, which has largely been a rubber-stamping process until the last three years when both Moorabbin and Archerfield had their master plans knocked back.
"It is appropriate for master plans to consider the interests of users of the airport, including existing tenants when implementing land use changes," the spokesperson said. "For example, the current in-force Moorabbin Airport Master Plan 2021 prevents further non-aviation development within the aviation precinct."
However, the Federal Government oversees the leasing arrangements for the airports, but has little control over who the ALCs lease buildings to, which opens the door for ALCs to lease hangars to non-aviation companies even though the buildings are in a designated aviation-use zone.
The departmental spokesperson also said a comprehensive review of the Airports Act 1996 scheduled for before 2030 would coincide with the time when the leases on the LFAs would expire and the ALCs would be applying to exercise their option for another 50-year lease.
"The Government will also seek to include examination of general aviation market dynamics in relation to airport access in the next Productivity Commission inquiry into the economic regulation of airports," the spokesperson said. "This will include looking at federally leased secondary metropolitan airports for the first time."
The 2024 aviation white paper notes that the metropolitan Class D airports are predicting increases in movements over the next few decades, which is likely to require more aviation infrastructure to cope with expansion.
In the 2023-24 financial year, the six metropolitan Class D airports handled more than 1.2 million movements, which accounts for one third of all movements through towered airports in Australia.